About 150 students, mostly blacks, spoke heatedly last night in an open forum meeting designed to communicate to the University community about ways to attack racism. But the open discussion ended with the blacks' dismissal of all non-members of their community.

"We need to work inside our community before we can invite white people in, before we can let everybody in . . . We need to work on our house first," one black student said.

Most students are continuing their commitment to the black community as a whole and therefore will not speak as individuals or release their names.

Earlier yesterday black students protested for one and one-half hours in front of the HUB and then proceeded into the building where Ron Williams (senior-political science) invited all people interested in a better racial climate to attend last night's open forum.

"We're here for Penn State," one participant in last night's meeting said, adding: "it's about the University community."

The students discussed methods to help them achieve their goals within the University.

An agenda of events planned by the student protesters is necessary to better inform other members of the black community and increase participation, one black student said.

"We have to get a collective consciousness among ourselves before we can include anybody else, not just to be united but know why we are united," one man said.

Another participant in the meeting differed, saying, "Without other people's help you can't do anything, this is a predominately white institution and you can't do everything on your own."

A woman student emphasized the importance of achieving equality between races.

"It's not enough to say we want the African-American community separated by itself. We can't be separated -- the whole point is equal rights so we should have equality," she said.

Members of the audience agreed about the importance of educating those who are unaware of the problems minorities face.

"The way to educate is by reaching out from those who know," another participant said, adding "we have got to have respect for each other, we need to get together and start talking."

The classroom is an excellent place for students to be exposed to the ideas of other cultures, one white woman said. In one class the professor passed out copies of the racial flyer deriding Undergraduate Student Government President Seth Williams and students spent time talking to each other about race relations, she said.

In breaking down racial discrimination it is necessary to attack people's attitudes, the students said.

"No matter how many regulations and changes the administration makes in regards to racism, racism is not an administrative problem. Racism is an individual problem," one member of the audience said.

The group also talked about ways to let other people know what the racial situation is at the University by bringing flyers to friends and keeping them in touch with the black community.

One woman said the low number of blacks at the University is one reason for the lack of communication between races here, and subsequently blacks may view whites as unconcerned.

Some white students are not more concerned with the problems blacks face because they fear negative reactions from friends and the blacks themselves, one white man said.

John Ferrarra, Interfraternity Council Dance Marathon chairman, made a statement supporting the black community and approving the group's use of the marathon as a vehicle to communicate its views.